Re: English Changes or what into Conlangs

Charles wrote:
>
> Nik Taylor wrote:
>
> > Also, I wonder, if it first happened in Northern England - did Old Norse
> > have a preferences for /s/ in plurals?  I wonder if it might've been a
> > Norse influence that traveled southward, like the verbal -s?
>
> Otto Jesperson said there were Old English plurals in
> -as, -e, -a, -an, -u, and others; then -as and -an gained
> in popularity. "But finally -es carried the day,
> probably because it was the most distinctive ending,
> and possibly under Scandinavian influence." FWIW.
By which I think he means because of contact with the Scandinavian
peoples it became necessary to level out irregularities.  But I
don't find that the old Scand. languages (well, I'm only really
familiar with Old Norse) had a prominent s plural.  Maybe they developed
it through the same pidgenizing contact with English.

Sally
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